Theirs To Treasure: Happily Ever After (Fate Harbor Book 1)

  Theirs To Treasure

  Fate Harbor Series, Book One

  Caitlyn O'Leary

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  About the Author

  Also by Caitlyn O'Leary

  © Copyright 2020 Caitlyn O’Leary

  All rights reserved.

  All cover art and logo © Copyright 2020

  By Passionately Kind Publishing Inc.

  Cover by Lori Jackson Design

  Content Edited by Trenda Lundin

  Cover Photo by Regina Wamba of ReginaWamba.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and places portrayed in this book are entirely products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find any eBooks being sold or shared illegally, please contact the author at Caitlyn@CaitlynOLeary.com.

  Introduction

  In Fate Harbor Love Comes In Threes

  Josie Decker is choosing this quaint harbor town to make a new life for herself. Little does she know what fate has in store for her when she ends up crossing paths with a man that she once helped as a child, who is determined to pay her back for being his touchstone.

  Chance Reynolds remembers the days when Josie was the only thing that made his foster home feel safe. He knows she has physical and emotional scars, and a belief that she is unworthy of love. But this time, in this place and in his arms, he could be the soul-healing sanctuary she needs.

  Can He Move Past The Pain & Open His Heart?

  Sam Booth is an Afghan War Vet who suffered wounds from fighting for his country and carries even deeper battle scars from his childhood. He never thought he could find someone who could love him, all of him, that is. He knows Chance has embraced Fate Harbor's typical triad relationship way of life and he wants to join Chance and Josie more than anything, but he feels like his demons will just get in the way of their happiness. When Josie's deep scars come to light, Sam knows that he is the only one who can give her the tenderness and love she needs. With his compassion and understanding of these two souls, can he be the man to make this triad complete?

  Is A Love Like Theirs Too Good To Be True?

  Chapter 1

  “Damn it, Betty, have you forgotten the forty grand you lost two years ago?” Chance asked.

  “Fine, so I trusted someone I shouldn’t have, sue me. But Josie isn’t like that. You loved her when you were children. You were heartbroken the day her mother took her from our home. I know that I can trust Josie, and you should know that, too.” Betty calmly defended her former foster daughter as she took Chance’s coffee cup to get him another refill. “Honey, you drink way too much of this stuff,” she chided.

  “We were talking about you being too trusting. I worry about you and Butch. I don’t want to see you taken advantage of again. What happens if Josie finds out you guys are loaded, and it turns out she’s just reestablishing ties because she wants to bilk you?”

  “Then I’ll probably give her some money, because I’d know she’d need it for a good reason,” Betty said. Chance’s eye twitched.

  “Anyway, you know exactly how much Butch and I have because you’re the one who handled all of our investments. We’re quite comfortable, and I thank you. You made sure all the people you love were taken care of, because that’s the kind of man you are.” She patted her foster son’s hand. “But you’re wrong about Josie. We’ve been talking on Skype for a month now, and she hasn’t asked for a single thing. She’s grown into a lovely young woman.”

  Chance felt his other eye begin to twitch.

  As soon as he left Betty’s house, Chance called the private investigation firm that his old company used. He hired them to run a background check on Josie Decker. He wanted to know every damn thing there was to know about his former foster sister before her next Skype call with Betty Hutchins.

  By the time he got back to his office, he had missed four calls. Business and his charities kept him hopping, but his guys had come through. An inch thick file sat on his desk.

  Chance took his time going through the file. The investigator that Chance hired had been unable to access the sealed records from her childhood. But he was privy to some things because he had lived with her. Chance knew that Josie had left Butch and Betty’s house when she’d been eight years old. In the file there was a newspaper clipping that showed Josie at fifteen, in a Tampa grocery store, grinning with her little sisters on each hip, who couldn’t be more than three. Josie showed signs of what a gorgeous woman she was going to be, with big eyes, warm brown skin, dark black hair and a huge infectious smile as she held the twin little blond girls. The erstwhile reporter had taken the photo after Josie had been the one millionth customer at the store and had scored a thousand-dollar shopping spree.

  But since graduating high school, she had worked nearly seventy hours a week so she could take custody of her six-year-old sisters. They might only be her half-sisters, but that made no difference to Josie, they were her life. When the girls were eleven, Josie started night school, and after six years, she graduated with a degree in business. She’d raised them in a tough neighborhood and kept them on the straight and narrow. Once again, Betty knew her foster kids.

  “Why don’t you introduce yourself? I’m sure she’d love to see the little boy she played with,” Betty encouraged as she wiped down the kitchen counter after her last Skype session with Josie.

  Chance didn’t have a good answer for her. He’d watched the last three sessions out of Josie’s line of vision. His excuse to Betty was that he just wanted to make sure Josie was on the up-and-up. Of course, after seeing the file on her, he knew that she had nothing but good intentions toward Betty and Butch.

  He remembered being thrust into the Hutchins’ home when he was three, after his parents died. He’d cried and cried every night for his mom and dad. The only thing, the only one, who had been able to console him had been the little girl named Josie. Back then he couldn’t say her name, so he’d called her Zee. She’d held him and played with him. Without h
er, those first few months would’ve been unbearable.

  When he first saw her on Betty’s computer screen, her face knocked the wind out of him. She’d literally taken his breath away. He’d dreamt about her golden-brown eyes but he’d forgotten just how beautiful her whole face was, and that smile. How could he have forgotten that Josie smile? She enthralled Chance. She was beautiful inside and out. His memories weren’t wrong.

  “Why don’t you admit that you were wrong about the girl, and that you think she’s a hotty?” Betty teased. She put out a tray of banana bread and milk. Chance sat down with a resigned sigh as he snagged a piece of the warm treat.

  “You were right about her.”

  “Of course I was.” Betty sat down and gave her son a satisfied smile as they ate in silence for a while.

  “It sounds like you’re trying to get her to move here and start a business. That’s a big step.”

  “She’s ready for it. She has the smarts, determination, and the degree. Now all she needs are for the dominos to fall into place and she should be fine. She needs a new start. She’s been living her life for others long enough,” Betty said firmly.

  Chance couldn’t disagree, and the idea of having Josie Decker living in Fate Harbor appealed to him intensely, not unlike Josie herself. “She’s got to believe she’s done it all on her own, or she won’t go for it,” Chance warned.

  “If we can’t pull that off, then they need to take away our membership to the Busybody Club,” Betty said with a twinkle in her eye.

  “I promise to introduce myself the first day she arrives, Betty. I just don’t want to do it over Skype, okay? Will you quit nagging me about this?” Chance pleaded for the eightieth time. They sat at the kitchen table waiting for Betty’s computer to ring with that day’s call. He blew across his steaming coffee cup.

  “I should never have agreed to let you watch our Skype sessions,” Betty huffed. “But we have managed to coordinate everything perfectly between the two of us. I think today is the day we’re going to get her to agree.”

  “I never doubted you,” Chance grinned.

  “Honey, I know you’re going to introduce yourself, in your own time, in your own way. Don’t think I don’t know what you have planned, young man. You might think you’re pulling one over on me, but I’ve got you figured out.”

  Chance studied the woman who was truly his mother now. A prickle of apprehension slid down his back. “Just what do you think you have figured out?” he asked carefully.

  “Chance Reynolds, this is about more than just you and Josie, and don’t think I don’t know it. You’re trying to—”

  The Skype rang, saving Chance. Betty positioned herself in front of her computer screen while he got up and leaned against the kitchen counter with his ever-present cup of coffee.

  “Betty, both Sarah and Rebecca got scholarships! Can you believe it?” Josie literally bounced, and for a moment her face wasn’t in the screen. She got herself together and positioned herself back into the center of the camera.

  “They both worked so hard. Sarah got an academic scholarship, and Becca got a scholarship in volleyball. Now, neither of them is full scholarships, but with the money we’ve saved and help from financial aid, they’ll both be able to go to school! Can you believe it?” Her smile was wider than the Mississippi.

  “So, it’s just like you planned, they’ll room together at the dorms there in Florida, right?” Betty asked.

  “Yep, they’re so excited. I mean, they say they’ll miss me, and I’m sure that they will, but this is it, it’s the start of their new lives.” For a moment Josie choked up, but then she continued. “They’ve both worked so hard. They deserve this. They really do, Betty.” Chance watched Josie’s smile fade a little as she thought of her younger sisters leaving.

  “Listen to what you just said,” Betty stated. “The same can be said for you. You’ve worked just as hard as they have, Josie. It’s time for you to start a new life, too. Time and again, you’ve talked about starting your own business, how you’re tired of managing someone else’s. Now is your time, Josie.”

  “But Washington state is so far away,” Josie protested. “I can’t stand the thought of being that far away from the girls.”

  “I know, Honey. But they have each other. If they need you, you can be on the next plane to Florida. Now’s the perfect opportunity for you. It’s like fate has taken a hand and is guiding you to Fate Harbor. Did you catch that pun?” Betty chuckled.

  Josie laughed, just as Chance’s mother intended.

  “Sweetheart, Butch and I love it up here, away from the hustle and bustle of California. What would make it even more perfect is having our chicks around us.”

  “I wasn’t even with you two full years,” Josie protested.

  “You’re one of ours. Never think differently. Butch wouldn’t be working so hard to negotiate with the Matushkas, otherwise. He’s been trying to get a good deal on that bakery for the last three and a half months on your behalf.”

  “I know, I can’t believe it.” Josie shook her head in bewilderment.

  “Well, believe it.”

  “He’s gotten them to agree to a perfect price and he’s talked to the local banker regarding a business loan. You won’t believe the rate he has waiting for you. Josie, it’s meant to be.”

  Chance chuckled to himself at the thought of his foster father negotiating anything more than a prime fishing spot on Lake Snomish. Butch Hutchins was many things, but a negotiator was not one of them. Chance, however, excelled at negotiations. And Betty excelled as an actress, because she maintained a straight face as she worked to convince Josie that her future waited in Fate Harbor.

  In the last month, as Josie’s sisters were getting ready for college, Betty increased the Skype calls to twice a week. Chance made sure to be at the house for each one of them, and he was damn near positive that once Zee’s sisters had been accepted into Florida State University, she would move. At least he prayed she would. Betty wasn’t lying about the fact that Butch wanted his chicks home to roost as much as Betty did. Chance marveled at the beautiful bond Betty and Butch had created with all the children they’d fostered.

  Chance listened as Betty provided Josie with the contact information for the Matushkas and Evan Stuart, the local banker, satisfied that things were going along as planned. Her file told him that a sense of family and security—the two things that she had sorely missed with her birth mother—would draw Josie to Fate Harbor now that her sisters were leaving for college. Betty, Butch, and Josie’s sisters were the four people who represented those things, and Chance hoped that Josie remembered him as one of the people in that circle as well.

  “Josie, you’re going to make those calls, aren’t you, Honey?” Again, Chance smiled at the woman’s tenacity.

  “What choice do I have, Betty? It’s fate.” Chance stifled an involuntary snicker as the two women laughed aloud again.

  After the call ended, Betty turned to him. She watched silently as he finished his coffee. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore. “What?”

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Chance saw both mischief and real concern on Betty’s face.

  “What did you always tell me when things got difficult growing up, Mama Betty?” Chance asked, using his childhood name for the woman who raised him.

  “I told you trusting chance was always the right decision for you.” She smiled fondly at the big blond man leaning against her kitchen counter.

  “That advice never let me down, Betty, and this time I think it’s going to make my wildest dreams come true.”

  Betty closed the laptop, got up, took the empty mug out of Chance’s hand, and put it into the sink. She turned, looked up at Chance, and cupped his cheek. Pride shone in her eyes. “I think you’re going to end up making a couple of other people’s wildest dreams come true, too. You just let me know how I can help.”

  Chance smiled down at Betty Hutchins and grinned. “Well, now that you as
k…” he began.

  The two conspirators spent the rest of the morning figuring out how to coordinate the next steps.

  Chapter 2

  Sam pushed the split wood off the stump and bent to pick up another uncut log, gritting his teeth so he wouldn’t groan as a spike of agony drove through his temple.

  There’s no such thing as pain. The fresh air comforts me and washes through me. It takes away my pain.

  He’d been saying that to himself for the last hour, and it still wasn’t helping.

  After centering the log, Sam hefted the axe and struck the wood, splintering it down the middle, taking him to his knees as the pain radiated through his head. He didn’t remember dropping the axe, but both of his hands were holding his head, and the axe now lay on the fresh grass.

  “Sam, what the hell?”

  Sam thought he heard someone calling out to him, but he couldn’t make any sense of it. The pain radiated through his head and down his neck, through his shoulders to his back.

  He’d really done it this time. Through the haze, he realized he was lying on the ground. He was back in Afghanistan, despite the smell of evergreens.

  Shot, I’ve been shot. No, that was a long time ago. He needed one of his painkiller shots. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t. He just needed to rest. Finally, blessed blackness engulfed him as he passed out.